Focus on creating new developments 
Nick Wilson

 
With quality commercial property including retail, industrial and offices in short supply in the open market, many listed property companies are developing their own property stock to ensure a pipeline of new assets to bulk up their portfolios.

Pangbourne Properties, which specialises in facilitating the creation of specially focused property funds in which it owns significant interests, has a R1,4bn development pipeline to be rolled out over the next 18 months.

Pangbourne, which has a large industrial property portfolio itself, owns a 43% stake in retail-focused Siyathenga Property Fund, 36,5% in iFour Properties, which owns a mix of property types, as well as 70% in property finance company Paforma.

Pangbourne recently acquired a controlling stake in small listed property company Calulo Property Fund, and aims to turn it into a focused office property fund.

Pangbourne CEO Craig Hutchison says the company is looking at creating an industrial property fund in the next two years, depending on market conditions. He says Pangbourne will facilitate the growth of these other companies, or “specialised legs”, as well as Pangbourne itself.

One of the biggest property developments Pangbourne is undertaking is the R420m extension to the Boardwalk shopping centre in Richards Bay.

Construction on the 30000m² extension should start in September or October this year and be completed by October next year.

The completed development will be held by Siyathenga. With the extension, the shopping centre will have 60000m² of space. The company is developing industrial property with joint venture partners JT Ross at Imvubu Park, in Riverhorse Valley in KwaZulu-Natal. Hutchison says it will be on land with highway exposure. Of the project’s 18000m², tenant Unitrans will take up 14000m².

Another project is the three-phased Pomona, about 1km away from the trade terminal at Johannesburg International Airport. This project will see 33000m² of industrial space built at a cost of more than R100m. Phase one starts this October.

This development is being done on a speculative basis but Hutchison says Pangbourne is already “getting inquiries” about the development.

Pangbourne also has two office development projects planned in the Johannesburg area for this year.

One of these is the development of a 10-block double-storey office park in Paulshof, adjacent to the N1 freeway and Witkoppen Road.

The R120m office development will be built in phases with the first two blocks expected to be completed early next year. The buildings range in size from 750m² to 1800m² with a total area of 12400m².

Pangbourne is also building a 6800m² office block next to the Sunninghill Hospital at a cost of about R70m for tenant Netcare, which is looking to sign a 10-year lease.

Hutchison says Pangbourne is also looking at developing one or two other properties in the Gauteng area.